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“Yeah,” he said, with surprising sincerity, “sorry about that. The guys are still pretty sore about the whole Rob thing. You know, the”—he pointed to his teeth—“the fang thing?”
“Yeah. I know. ”
“You should watch your back. They’re pretty balls-out for you. ”
Classy. But I appreciated the sentiment, if not the choice of words. And wasn’t that just grand, because now I could never kill this kid. How much easier it’d be if he were as much of a jerk as the rest of them.
Could I put it off just a bit longer? But that was why Alcántara had assigned me this boy, wasn’t it? He’d know I’d have trouble “assassinating” someone like this. The Spanish vampire was testing me.
Could I avoid killing him? Evade my assignment altogether? I ran possible excuses through my head. Possible scenarios. Surely there’d be a way to pass my class without killing Toby-the-Trainee.
I heard someone approaching and spotted Rob and Danny, dragging a limp and pale Yasuo between them. “Found him,” Rob called. Then he spotted me and his eyes went wide.
Ha. The moron thought he’d killed me.
He shot Toby a glare. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
I gave him my brightest smile. “Happy to see me?”
“This time it’ll be the last time. ” Rob flung Yasuo’s arm down, making him stumble, then strode toward me.
Standing tall, Toby put up his hands. “Rob, dude. Take it down a notch. ”
Yasuo’s head lolled up, and spotting me, life snapped into his eyes. Like a flicked switch, he was instantly animated, his body shooting upright. It was like a rabid animal woken from sleep. One minute Yas was absent, the next he was there. Like, really there. He shouldered past the others to get in my face. “Nobody trusts you. ”
Danny chimed in. “I agree with Yas. You’re toxic. ”
I angled away from them. “Hey, didn’t you hear Toby? Let’s all chill out. ”
Yasuo’s attention turned to farm boy. “Ignore her. She gets people to trust her. To tell her their secrets. ”
“I’m here, you know,” I said. “You can address me directly. ”
I regretted my words when he turned his full attention back to me. I had to look away from that creepy cold stare.
“Emma trusted you and now she’s dead. Amanda trusted you—did you know her secrets, too? How about Ronan?” Then he added slowly, deliberately, “I’ll just bet he tells you all sorts of things. ”
Adrenaline dumped through me, acid blazing through my veins. What was he referring to? Ronan had shared the secret of Lilac’s strength with me just before I met her in the ring for the Directorate Challenge. Stupidly, I’d later confided it to Yas and Emma. Was Yasuo threatening me with this? Threatening Ronan? Were my friends his enemies now?
It’d been a secret big enough to save my life.
Big enough to get Ronan killed.
“What are you saying?” I asked carefully.
“I’m saying you’ll suffer. ” His voice was a deep and otherworldly growl. The rationality that’d been in his eyes a moment ago clouded. “There has been a wrong, and I will right it to my death. ”
Okeydokey. I took a subtle step backward. Righting wrongs till death was always my cue to exit.
Draug in the surrounding pens began to come to life, their moans turning to snarls. Someone among us was afraid and it smelled tasty. Toby shot a panicked glance their way. “Let’s get out of here, guys. ”
“Not leaving till it’s finished,” Yas said in that creepy voice. “Till she’s finished. ”
“Yeah. ” Rob stepped forward. “Can’t leave this mess behind. ”
Danny snickered. “Hot mess. ”
Toby put a hand on Rob’s arm. “Let it go, man. What if those things smell her blood and bust out of there? I’m not getting eaten. ”
